


Run my hands through your hair

by StrangeNoise



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Hair Braiding, Harley is probably her own warning, Post-Movie, Pre-Relationship, Sort Of, identity crisis, joking, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22752379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeNoise/pseuds/StrangeNoise
Summary: Watching Dinah braid her hair leads to Harley having a little identity crisis and a shift in their relationship...
Relationships: Dinah Lance/Harleen Quinzel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 120





	Run my hands through your hair

**Author's Note:**

> I have no explanation for this other than that I saw drunk Harley and Dinah interacting at Sionis' bar and have been consumed by the thought of them admiring/doing each other's hair ever since. I hope someone enjoys this!

„Gosh, I really wish I had your hair”, Harley sighed as she ran a comb through Dinah’s hair, “Do you have any idea how hard it is sometimes not to just scalp you and wear your hair as my own?”

“I’d like to see you try doing that”, Dinah replied with a snort and watched Harley and herself in the floor length mirror in front of them. Sometimes she thought it was a shame after everything she went through, after everything she did on a daily basis, that she was still living in this run-down little flat in the middle of Gotham. But every time she considered moving, it felt wrong. This place might be tiny and dingy but it was home and it felt like home too. Especially nowadays when an overly excited Harley Quinn would just come climbing in through her kitchen window in the middle of the night to hang out.

Dinah hadn’t expected them to stay in contact after their forced coop mission against Sionis, let alone become something akin to friends. It was weird and it made no sense and it was probably more dangerous than Dinah would like to admit, but if she was honest with herself, she enjoyed Harley’s company. The blonde was loud and incredibly obnoxious at times and yet Dinah couldn’t help but get excited every time she heard that tell-tale knock on her kitchen window, knowing Harley was waiting on the fire escape outside, possibly with some booze and/or candy of unknown origin because she insisted it was common courtesy to bring something when you visited a friend (even if she usually ended up eating or drinking whatever she brought all by herself).

“True”, Harley sighed, tearing Dinah out of her thoughts, “If anyone could stop me from stealing your hair it would be you. Really a shame.” Harley ran the brush through Dinah’s hair a few more times before burying her face in the thickest part of it and heaving a sigh. Dinah was pretty sure she heard her whisper “Too bad you’ll never be mine” into her hair but she chose not to comment on it.

“Don’t get any of your makeup in my hair! I just washed it!”, she complained instead. Reluctantly, Harley let go of her hair and stuck her tongue out to Dinah in the mirror.

“Excuse you?! This is my own special brand!”, the blonde exclaimed, “It’s waterproof, bulletproof, acidproof and all the other -proofs! Your hair wishes it could destroy this look!” Dinah watched Harley strike a pose in the mirror and couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from her lips.

She chose not to comment on the makeup any further. She liked it a lot but sometimes Harley could go into endless monologues about it and Dinah had had her fill of those for now. Instead, she pulled the box with her hair ties and the rings she liked to weave into her braids closer to her. Dinah only re-did the braids and rings every other month. Usually once they were in, they lasted for several weeks at a time. But these past days they had begun looking unkempt and dry so Dinah would have to redo them.

At first, she didn’t notice but when she got to the third braid without any running commentary from Harley, Dinah realized it was almost eerily quiet in the room. Lifting her head, she could see Harley sitting behind her in the mirror, mouth full of the chocolate chip cookies she had brought along this time and her gaze transfixed on where Dinah’s fingers were braiding her own hair and occasionally weaving a ring into it. Dinah had never seen Harley stare at her this intently and for a split-second she was genuinely worried that the blonde would produce a switchblade from somewhere and actually try to steal her hair. Instead, a single tear slid down Harley’s left cheek.

“I _really_ wish I had your hair”, she said again, swallowing the mouthful of cookies before continuing, “It’s so _you_! It shows who you are and what your style is and all I have are these dumb pigtails that look like I’m still not over-“ Harley interrupted herself and angrily shoved another cookie into her mouth.

“It looks like I still don’t have my own style!”, she finally finished, crumbs falling from her mouth as she spoke.

Dinah could feel her desperation and turned around to face her for the first time since they had sat down in front of the mirror. She grabbed Harley’s head in her hands, squeezing her face until she stopped chewing and looked at her as sternly as she could.

“Enough of this bullshit”, she said, sounding a disturbing amount like her second-grade math teacher, “You’re a kickass independent woman and anyone who says differently can come straight to me so I can beat some sense into them.”

“But…my hair…”, Harley whined again but Dinah cut her off.

“Your hair is part of you and it’s beautiful”, she insisted because it was true, “Who cares if there’s still some pink and blue in there? You’re you and you’re great the way you are! If you want to change your hair, do it. If you don’t, keep it like this. Your hair doesn’t dictate who you are. Understood?”

Harley nodded, eyes wide and face still squished between Dinah’s hands. Dinah wasn’t entirely sure the blonde believed her but for the moment she seemed placated. Then, she caught Harley’s gaze slipping towards the box full of hair ties and rings. Dinah sighed.

“If you want to, I can of course still braid part of your hair like mine so you can see if you like it”, she offered. Immediately, an almost manically wide grin split Harley’s face and she wiggled away from Dinah’s grip.

“You’re _THE BEST_ ”, the blonde exclaimed as she pulled a thick strand of hair out of one of her pigtails, then crawled around Dinah until she was sitting in front of her, “I hope I’m going to look just as badass as you!”

“You already do”, Dinah insisted before she could stop herself. Both women seemed to be surprised by the statement but exchanged an awkward smile through the mirror. Then, silence fell for the next several minutes while Dinah braided Harley’s hair and weaved some of the metal rings into it with utmost care.

“All done”, she finally proclaimed and admired her handiwork before Harley pulled it from her hands and crawled closer to the mirror to admire herself.

“I look so fab!”, the blond exclaimed, beaming at her own reflection, “Thanks, bestie! You’re _the BOMB_!”

Before Dinah could react to her words in any way, Harley had spun around, thrown herself at her and smashed their lips together in a clumsy kiss. Dinah was overwhelmed and had no idea how to react. Of course Harley had kissed her before – especially when the blonde was drunk she could get very touchy-feely. But those had been harmless pecks on the cheeks, the eyebrow or wherever Harley could reach at that moment. It had never been like this, had never made shivers run down Dinah’s back and made her run hot and cold at the same time. Before she could make the conscious decision to lean into it or draw back, however, Harley let go of her.

The blonde looked just as surprised and confused as Dinah felt. A light blush spread across her pale cheeks and for once in her life, Harley seemed to be at a loss for words. It only lasted a few seconds however.

“Oh shit, I gotta go!”, she exclaimed and jumped to her feet, “It’s almost time for Bruce’s midnight snack! He gets _super_ antsy when he doesn’t get it on time and I don’t want him trying to eat the couch again!”

She made her way over to the kitchen window with a constant stream of words.“Anyway, it was nice seeing you! Still love your hair! We should to-ta-lly do this again! Gotta dash now! Toodles, bestie!”

And suddenly she was gone, vanished into the night like she often did. And Dinah sat in front of her mirror, touching her lips and suddenly feeling far more lonely in her tiny, dark flat than she ever had before.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you had fun!  
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated.  
> You can also come and say hi on twitter @NoiseStrangest !


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